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Thursday, March 23, 2017

Becca St. John on Heroes

This
week we’re going to find out a little about author Becca St. John. March’s theme
is ‘Heroes’ so Becca will be talking about heroes. She’ll also tell us a little
about herself and her writing, and answer some fun questions.

An Accidental Writer ~ Writing was a tool, not a toy,
until a stay in a haunted hotel and a bookcase full of dog-eared romances.
Hooked, Becca read old romances, new romances, both sexy and sweet, until her
own tales begged to be written.

Living in Florida, Becca divides her time between dreaming up stories, diving
deep into history, kayaking, and swimming. Her husband gives her the space she
needs by fishing in the mangroves and waterways, or watching football (the
English sort) with his British buddies. Becca and her hubby break the routine
with adventure travel; though, at heart, Becca is a homebody believing there is
no greater playground than inside the mind. Thank
you, Beverley, for this opportunity to post on your blog! What fun!

Beverley: What do you think makes a hero, either in real life
or in books?

Becca: Wonderful question and cuts right to the marrow of
what romance readers have in common ~ Heroes are men who believe in love of all
kinds, partnerships, familial and community, and hold up their side of these
relationships. You can count on your hero, no matter what. He will have flaws,
but he is tenacious in love and doesn’t let the bad times scare him away. He
will take on life as it is, without trying to escape. Kind of like my hubby
*smile*!

Beverley:
Is it important to have strong conflicts? If yes,
inner or outer conflicts, or both?

Becca: There isn’t a story without conflict, both inner and
outer. That’s what we read for, to see how these characters are going to
wrangle with their own inner doubts or demons while overcoming barriers in
their path. That doesn’t mean there aren’t light moments, moments for both
character and reader to rest but, as in real life, stuff happens and life is
riddled with obstacles and challenges. The beauty of romance is the endings,
with positive outcomes for all the hard work.

Beverley:
Who are your favorite heroes, and why?

Becca: Ok, first I have to admit that I love all my own
heroes. That’s what spurs me to write. Outside of them, my all time favorite
hero is the Duke of Jervaulx, from Flowers
from the Storm by Laura Kinsale. This is a truly flawed hero whom we love, thanks
to Kinsale’s brilliance.So it shouldn’t
surprise you to know that The Beast, in Beauty
and the Beast, is another one of my heroes, which leads to yet another top
pick, Piers Yelverton, Earl of Marchant, from
Eloisa James’s When Beauty Tamed the Beast.Guess you can
see where I’m going.

Beverley:
Tell me about the heroes in your book/s.

Becca: Most of my heroes are the forceful, overbearing
sorts, who need a strong woman to counter them. Like most of the men I know,
they see the world from their perspective and act accordingly, pushing their
own agenda. But they love, deeply, without reserve. Sometimes, it is merely
their belief in marriage, family, and community that sends them off in pursuit
of the heroine but, by the end, their world tips unequivocally into love and
they learn to widen their agenda.

Beverley:
How do you develop the characteristics for your hero?

Becca: When I can answer that, I will write a book on how
it’s done. I don’t develop the characters, they step into my life and, as I
write, they surprise me with tidbits. It’s an agonizing way to work, but also
quite thrilling to finish a scene and sit back in wonder of these fabulous
characters filling the page.My greatest
angst is that I might not do them justice because, inside my head and heart, they
are fully fleshed out with all sorts of strengths and flaws.

Beverley: How long have you been writing?

Becca:A
long time … though I never took it seriously at first. My degree was in
theater. While working on the degree, I would write and produce plays, thinking
of myself as a director and producer. The writing was just part of the process.
At the same time, I wrote articles to help finance my life, but saw that as a
means to an end, not for the ability to convey a message. It wasn’t until I was
introduced to romance novels ~ as an adult ~ that the lid was lifted on all the
stories and characters and situations inside me.Dare I admit, that was 20 years ago? And I
will say here, without regret, that I threw away my first seven books. They’d
been reworked to death. If I ever decide to write them again, they will be
better for the fresh start.

Beverley: What genre do you write in and why?

Becca:A
good friend of mine was a producer at the BBC. She often spoke of how difficult
it was to produce historical shows because of all the research. For years, this
intimidated me from even trying to write anything but contemporary. Now, it’s
all I write; Medieval romantic adventure and Regency romantic mystery. That’s
my reading preference, as well. It helps that I married an Englishman and, for
the first six years of our marriage, lived outside London. During that time, I
couldn’t get enough of the local history and became, what I call, a castle
hopper. Guess a lot of the research just happened, much like my writing,
without my even knowing it.

Beverley: Who influenced you the most in deciding to become a
writer?

Becca: The romance genre. Don’t get me wrong, reading is a
passion, all sorts of books, but it was reading romance that created the itch,
my own stories tickling me until I started writing. My mentors would have been
Jayne Ann Krentz, Emma Darcy, Joan Wolf, Jude Deveraux, Judith McNaught, Eloisa
James, Laura Kinsale … the list goes on.

Beverley: What obstacles did you have to overcome to begin
creating your work?

Becca:Family
~ writing time was time stolen from the family. But for me, family is not just
flesh and blood, hubby and children, but an extended community of friends I
choose to call family.

Beverley: What gets your creative juices flowing?

Becca:Silence
and a keyboard ~ sometimes, when starting on a new scene, I just have to start
typing to get the idea there. Something like, “ok, folks, who wants to speak up
here? We’ve just had x happen and …” about that point the story starts to flow.

Beverley: What will stop your creative muse the quickest?

Becca:My
husband is a whistler ~ stops me with the first note. He’ll breeze into the
house, whistling the Rolling Stones or some such, while my head will be deep in
Medieval Scotland. The contrast is jarring, but how can I be get angry with
someone who is happy enough to be whistling?

Beverley: What
do you have for breakfast?

Becca: Tea, then coffee … tea after yoga and meditation and
coffee an hour or so later when hubby wakes. Sometimes granola. I make a wicked
granola, worth having for lunch.

Beverley:
What do you wear when you are writing?

Becca: Junk clothes ~ I live in Florida, so it is often
something easy to pull on like a sundress. Nothing confining.

Beverley:
Where do you do most of your writing?

Becca: On a couch in my study, or in my bedroom. My worst
vice is sitting cross-legged, which is awful, a real no-no.

Beverley: Do you have a favorite cartoon character? Why?

Becca:Of
course! Betty Boop! I have a little Betty Boop character who will join me on my
research trip this spring. If you read The Gatehouse, you’ll learn why
Lady Eleanor will be traveling.

Beverley: Who would you love most to meet 'in person' and
why?

Becca:Eleanor
Roosevelt ~ she was a very strong woman, a good woman, but her life had its
miseries.

Beverley: If you had an unexpected free day what would you do
with it?

Becca:Read!
Better yet, kayak out into the mangroves, anchor up in this lovely secluded
area, and read.

Beverley: What are you working on now?

Becca:Writing
this in January, so in the last throws of getting The Gatehouse released
on the 30th. Lots of other things as well. Listening to the final
version of Steve Worsley’s audible narration of The Reah. Working with
Mary Sarah Agliotta on the narration for three books, An Independent Miss,
and the first two Lady Eleanor Mysteries; Summerton and The
Gatehouse. Those are due for release spring of 2017. And, of course,
setting up my research for my trip to SE Asia, where Lady Eleanor will go in
the next book. I leave in a week, for nearly three months, so there is a lot to
do

Blurb for
The Gatehouse, Lady Eleanor
Mysteries, book 2

Regency romantic mystery
with a touch of Gothic

A deaf aristocrat fights to protect all he loves
from a killer he cannot hear

Moments before the wedding, Christopher Sterry
finds the groom, his twin brother, murdered. One would expect Christopher to
become the next Earl of Longford. No one would be surprised if he married his
twin’s almost-bride, Helen Grove. She is, after all, his closest friend and
confidante.

Except Christopher is deaf in an inflexible world
that believes a deaf mute is no better than a barbaric half-wit, unfit to be an
earl and quite capable of murdering his brother.

Helen waits at the altar while her groom lies
murdered in the folly. But there is no time to mourn. Christopher is in danger
and so, it appears, is she.Born to
marry the earl of Longford, whoever that may be, Helen ignores her own risks
and crosses into the line of fire to protect the man who holds her heart.

Lady Eleanor solves crimes more thoroughly than any
male magistrate. So, when Christopher, her godson, is condemned without
evidence, she sets out to prove both his innocence and his competence as earl.
If she fails, Christopher will die… or be returned to an asylum worse than
hell.

A CHRISTMAS ANTHOLOGY

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About Me

I'm a Canadian author who writes murder, mystery, medical thrillers, romantic suspense, often set in Montana on a ranch. I recently dived into self-publishing and I love the challenge. It's exciting. Hunted was my first novel, then Missing and Targeted, the third in the series, set in Montana. Another series about an assistant PI, A Cruise to Remember and A Murder to Forget . By Design, on cloning. And I'm working on Death Southern Style set in New Orleans. I'm hoping to finish it by the end of September. Check them out and let me know what you think.